The present invention relates to a sealing structure of weather strips for retractable roof vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to the sealing structure of the weather strips, which are installed along front edges of quarter window glasses that open and close, for the retractable roof vehicles of which roofs that open and close are folded and put away in storages.
FIG. 4 is an external view of one type of retractable roof vehicles of which roofs that open and close are folded to open. The roof comprises a soft top 1 which is folded and put away in a trunk 2 on a lower rear side of a vehicle. Another roof of the retractable roof vehicle comprises a roof panel and a back window panel at the back of the roof panel instead of the soft top 1, which are folded and put away in the trunk 2 while the roof panel as folded is piled on the back window panel. Such vehicles are generally called retractable hard top, coupe cabriolet or coupe convertible.
Some of the retractable roof vehicles comprise a quarter window glass 4 that lifts and lowers to close and open on a rear side of a side window glass 3 that lifts and lowers. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the quarter window glass 4 has a quarter sash 5 installed on a front side thereof. The quarter sash 5 has an installation base member 11 of a weather strip 10 installed thereon which extends in a vertical direction with respect to the quarter sash 5. As the quarter window glass 4 lifts or lowers, the weather strip 10 also lifts or lowers. While the quarter window glass 4 is closed, an upper end part of the weather strip 10 makes elastic contact with a roof weather strip 20 installed along a side edge of a soft top 1. The weather strip 10 comprises a hollow seal part 12 which makes elastic contact with a rear end part 3a of a side window glass 3 and a seal lip 13 which makes elastic contact with an inner-cabin side surface of the side window glass 3 for securing sealing property inside and outside of the vehicle (see, for example, Japanese unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-89694).
According to the sealing structure for retractable roof vehicles according to the prior art, the upper end part of the weather strip 10 makes elastic contact with the roof weather strip 20 as well as the side window glass 3 and therefore the weather strip 10 bends. Such a structure has caused a problem shown in FIG. 7 that water 130 of rain which flows along a side edge of the soft top 1 or of high pressure water of car washing directly powered advances to a space between the side window glass 3 and the weather strip 10 from the outer-cabin side, enters the inner-cabin side and causes water leak.
The Japanese unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-89694 discloses to form a drainage hole on a position which is lower than an upper end part of a weather strip 20 and in a domain which is open to an inner-cabin side for preventing entrance of trash or dust as well as for draining water. Such a structure necessitates formation of the drainage hole or an outer-cabin side drainage path connected to the drainage hole and is complicated.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide the sealing structure of the weather strips for the retractable roof vehicles, which is simple in structure and capable of preventing the rainwater or the like from entering the inner-cabin side from the upper end part of the weather strips installed along the quarter window glasses that open and close.